Jason and the Movienauts

Jason Sacks

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FILM REVIEWS
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Jason and his friends talk about old and new movies

3D AGO

John Carpenter's Halloween and The Fog

Paul and Shawn are back! And now it's time to dig into the real beginnings of John Carpenter's rise to filmic greatness. Yes, it's time to talk about Halloween and The Fog. Both are great, but what did people think of Halloween at the time it came out, and does the film still stand up today? And is The Fog a brilliant ghost story or a slightly dull muddle? Hmm, could that be a preview of the interesting discussion in this episode? Spoilers say, yes, we have a great disagreement. What do you think? Be sure to send us your opinions...

1h 37m
FEB 2

John Carpenter-cast: Dark Star and Assault on Precinct 13

Paul and Shawn are back, and this time the guys are taking on a new project. It's time to dig into the movies of the great John Carpenter. We're not going to go completely chronological through his filmography (this later movies are famously bad) but we wanted to get his two earliest movies out of the way. Dark Star and Assault on Precinct 13 are early works, but both have a lot to make them highly enjoyable. The slacker energy of Dark Star is especially fun for everybody this week. Join us for the kickoff of what should be a fun series!

1h 25m
JAN 26

Billy Wildercast: Major & Minor Films...

Michelle is back for our continuing discussion of Billy Wilder films. At this point we've watched and discussed 18 Wilder films which span the gamut of his career. There always comes a moment when doing a director durvey when we hit a few more minor obscure films in their filmography and that time is now for the great Wilder. So this time we discuss a few notable films you might be less familiar with: The Emperor Waltz, The Spirit of St. Louis and The Major and the Minor. All are relatively deep cuts, but all represent interesting moments in Wilder's career and are totally deserving of in-depth discussions diving deep into common themes and approaches. We hope you enjoy this pod as we begin to wrap up the great director's career.

58 min
JAN 19

The Smart, Intense Films of Peter Watkins

Eric is back so it's time for him and Jason to dig into obscure masterpieces. Today the guys take on two brilliantly intense fils by British master Peter Watkins: Edvard Munch and The War Game. Eric fills Jason in on Watkins's long and well documented history of making avant-garde films, then the guys dig deep into two of the most highly serious but emotionally satisfying movies of their experience. The Munch film in particular has so much complexity and integrity to it that the film sets a standard for biopics that may never be reached again.

1h 14m
JAN 12

Jason's Top 10 of 2026!

I saw 93 movies released in 2026 so I feel like that's enough to give you a top 10, along with some honorable mentions and a few bottom feeders. Let me know what you think of the list!

21 min
JAN 5

Jason and Eric Talk Jacques Tati Movies

Jacques Tati directed some of the most wonderfully humorous and charming comedies of all time. Eric Hoffman joins Jason to discuss Tati's short filmography and delight in Tati's meticulous attention to detail, his clashes between urbanism and tradition, and his deep influences on other filmmaking greats. This was Jason's first time watching a Tati film and he was blown away by the experience. It's an hour of great discussion we're sure you'll enjoy.

1h 5m
12/22/2025

Billy Wilder-cast: Ace in the Hole and Witness for the Prosecution

Michelle is back to continue Billy Wilder-Cast, this time with maybe one of the darknes movies ever committed to film, Ace in the Hole, and one of the most fun (but still kind of dark), Witness for the Prosecution. Do Jason and Michelle git whiplast from discussing these very different movies or do they find some intriguing common ground? (Spoiler: there is some common ground)

1h 10m
12/15/2025

Diving deep into Shōhei Imamura's Profound Desires of the Gods

Shōhei Imamura's 1968 epic Profound Desires of the Gods is a brilliant, dizzying, extremely complex drama/satire focusing on a Japanese island in transition. The film focuses on one family on the island, a group of highly inbred people, and how the whole island reacts when post-WWI modernity starts to come to the island. In other words, Profound Desires is just the kind of strange, heady and often surreal movie Eric and Jason love to talk about for this podcast. And talk they do, with 75 minutes of attempts to wrangle this unwieldy masterpiece into some kind of shape...

1h 24m

5

out of 5

6 Ratings

Insightful movie podcast

01/23/2022

Oxfordsplice

I have thoroughly enjoyed the episodes so far. Hosts are well spoken, informed, and engaging.

Jason and his friends talk about old and new movies

Creator

Jason Sacks
Years Active

2021 - 2026
Episodes

214
Rating

Clean
Copyright

© Jason Sacks
Show Website

Jason and the Movienauts